By FATMA KHALED, CAIRO (AP):- The bodies of 19 people were recovered after the rubber migrant boat they were in sank off the eastern Libyan coast, the International Organization for Migration said Friday.
The boat, which was carrying more than 70 Sudanese and South Sudanese nationals, sailed on Sept. 9 from a beach near the town of Kambout and sank the same day, an IOM spokesperson told The Associated Press Friday.
A total of 14 people were rescued five days later, while 42 others remain missing, the IOM said. It was unclear how those rescued managed to survive at sea during that time.
Libya has been a main transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe, fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
The Libya Red Crescent said on its Facebook page on Monday that it received an emergency call from authorities in Tobruk, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Kambout, about recovering dead bodies. The authorities and the Red Crescent often work together on rescue and recovery operations.
The Red Crescent said it recovered several bodies at Kambout beach. It didn’t say whether the bodies were those of the 19 migrants mentioned in the IOM report.
In a separate incident, authorities in the coastal city of Zuwara in western Libya said on Tuesday they rescued 35 migrants, including five women and a child. The migrants were on a boat off the coast of the Abu Kammash area, according to a statement by Zuwara Naval Operations Force, which is part of the internationally recognized Government of National Unity in the capital of Tripoli in the west.
Libya has been a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Earlier this month, a migrant boat capsized off Libya’s coast, leaving one dead and 22 missing, another tragedy for those attempting the dangerous journey to Europe, Libyan authorities said.
The coast guard in Tobruk said at the time that the boat carried 32 migrants when it sailed and that nine were rescued.
Libya was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.